


Promises

by maggiesbell



Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional, F/M, Happy Ending, Head Injury, MY BRAND, Psychological, a case goes wrong - juliet gets in harm's way, how do you tag a fic?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23928874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maggiesbell/pseuds/maggiesbell
Summary: The most dangerous ones are those you never saw coming.
Relationships: Juliet Higgins/Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV
Comments: 20
Kudos: 110





	Promises

**Author's Note:**

> I posted the first part of this on tumblr. Decided I wanted to finish it, with my new year's resolution being to complete projects. So, enjoy. <3

_Crack_.

A high-pitched ringing filled her ears as an explosion of pain spread from the back of her head. It was violent enough to cause a gasp, making her stagger forward as she reached for the source of her pain, unsteady fingers grazing something wet. Lowering her hand again, she frowned, running her thumb across the liquid. Its redness matched the dark drops falling to the floor, turning the white fabric into red. 

A shadow disappeared through the doorway. _He’s getting away_. The thought somewhat cleared Juliet’s mind, a renewed sense of duty filling her. So, she placed a foot forward, immediately recognizing her mistake. Colours and shapes blurred together, distorting her surroundings into fog. A moment later, her feet betrayed her. 

At least the floor was carpeted. 

She allowed herself to bask in the softless, to let her eyes stay closed as an overwhelming tiredness settled in her bones, with the sense of duty fade away with every increasingly shallow breath. It was a shame how she’d ruined the fabric; getting rid off the stain would be a nightmare. Maybe it would be best to just get rid of it altogether. Seemed like the easier option. Blood didn’t—

“Higgy?” She was dimly aware of Magnum touching her wrist “Hey, can you hear me?”

She managed to conjure up a sound, a mix between a hum and a whimper, and she heard him let out a breath as she forced her eyes open. That hurt. A lot. Somehow even more when he pressed something against her head, muttering apologies between the instructions he was shouting into his phone. She closed her eyes again. 

The shouts stopped. Instead, he talked to her in soft-spoken tones, mixing in questions. _Do you know what day it is? Do you know where you are?_ She didn’t, but she was too tired for that to scare her. She joined the otherwise one-sided conversation with a few hums, which he seemed content with. At some point, he promised her he wasn’t going to use Robin’s new car and not give her any trouble for the next month. Had she not been exhausted, she would have smiled; as if _that_ was going happen. 

“Just wait and see, Higgins.” She hoped she would. 

His sentences made less sense after that. Whether that was of his or her fault, she couldn’t tell. She guessed the latter, though. His voice was fading into the background. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t quite catch his words.

She was drifting, and she barely registered that he grabbed her wrist again. He let out a breath before he took her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

“Juliet?”

She couldn’t bring herself to hum, or to stay awake any longer. 

***

“Zeus and Apollo miss you.”

The dogs didn’t understand English — not as far as he knew, anyway — but they understood. They would quietly follow him around the few times he’d been back at Robin’s Nest, with no fire in their eyes or malice in their hearts. It seemed they had a truce. Apollo had as much as offered him a gentle nudge when he’d been standing around in her office for too long, pulling him out of not-so-happy thoughts and echoes of the past. They shouldn't have split up. There had been so much blood. He had scrubbed his hands sore, but he could still _feel_ it. Somehow, Apollo had known the darkness of his mind, too, bumping his head into his thigh. Who would’ve known those dogs could actually be friendly. Strangely enough, he missed running from them. That usually meant Higgins showing up to be his reluctant savior.

How odd it was, those things you missed. From the obvious things, like the sound of her voice, to the small things, like the smell of that awful take-away she ordered sometimes (which he was pretty sure she did just to spite him).

He sighed. “If I’m being honest, everyone misses you.” 

She might not have been looking for one, but she’d found a family on Hawaii nevertheless. And they all cared so damn much about her. He wished she was awake to see the array of flowers and get-well cards decorating this otherwise depressing room. He rubbed his eyes. He just wished she’d wake up. Why wasn’t she waking up?

_“I_ miss you,” he confessed. No reaction. “I know you’re probably sick of my voice by now.” He straightened up in his chair, leaning forward. “Guess you’re gonna have to wake up and tell me to shut up.”

He waited for a second. And then another. And then another. He hadn’t expected it to work this time, either, but he sank back into his chair nevertheless. She was supposed to have woken up by now. The doctors told him that the swelling had subsided. Her scans were extraordinary, apparently. Her brain activity levels were near perfect. Even unconscious she outdid herself. Somehow, that made him proud. But she still wasn’t waking up, no matter how optimistic the doctors were. He couldn’t help but notice they kept using the same phrases, or that they had no true answers to his questions. Noticing details had never hurt as much as it did now. 

For a moment, he closed his eyes, trying to remember when he’d last gotten some sleep. Three days ago? Four? Time had this keen ability to blur together when you were preoccupied otherwise.

He opened his eyes again. “Just so you know, I haven’t touched the cars.”

It felt important to him, keeping his promise. It’d been one made in the haze of worry. He’d spurted out the first thing that popped into his head, hoping she’d scoff or roll her eyes or give him a “ _yeah, I’d love to see that happen”_. It hadn’t. He wasn’t even sure she’d heard at that point. She’d just been...gone. Still, he intended to keep his promise, stupid as it was. No touching the cars, not even the new Chevrolet he’d been eying (much to her dismay). Or the Ferrari, even though he’d argue the Ferrari didn’t count had she been awake. 

He offered her a small smile. “I told you I could do it.” Not that he’d have much use for them lately, anyway. Driving around half-asleep was a poor idea. He lowered his head again. “Higgins, I-”

A _ping_ cut through the air. He fished the phone of his pocket, rubbings his eyes before he could make out the text. Katsumoto. _Sawyer is in custody._ Four small words that held a lot of power. The time he hadn’t spent here, he’d spent having Rick and TC drive him around the island trying to track the bastard down. It didn’t feel as good as it thought it would. He still felt sad.

He rose from the chair, shoving the phone back into his pocket. “I gotta go, Higgy. They got Sawyer, and..”

A murmur.

He froze. “Higgins?”

There was another murmur, and her eyes fluttered open. She was barely awake, her eyes heavy with drug-induced drowsiness, but _she was awake._ A surge of warmth spread from his chest, dulling some of the pain he’d been carrying the past week. She blinked a couple times more, eyes darting across the room. The rhythmic beeping that had kept him company lately grew rapid, and she shot up from bed. 

“Hey, Higgins,” he gently grabbed her wrist as she went for her IV, “ _hey_. You’re at the hospital. It’s okay.” He wondered how many times she’d woken up in strange rooms with no idea where she was. “You’re safe. It’s okay.” 

She lifted her gaze, and a flicker of recognition sparked in her eyes as she relaxed back down. He let out a small breath; _thank God_. That was one worry to cross of his list.

“Hey, you,” he said softly, and she offered him the tiniest of smiles. It was enough to make him think he might cry. “Hey.”

“Yeah,” she cleared her throat, “already said that.” Her voice was raspy and quiet, the week having taken its toll on her vocal cords. Yet, he couldn’t remember ever hearing anything quite as remarkable.

He chuckled. “Yeah, you got me there.”

She shifted her gaze, throwing another look around her eyes eventually settled on the flowers. 

“It’s been a week,” he said, never moving his eyes of her. Felt like a lot longer. “Do you remember what happened?”

Silence.

“We had a case,” he explained. “Sweet old lady who got robbed by her date, remember?” 

She looked back up at him, tilting her head slightly.

“We found other victims, too. All of them retired women. One of them were killed.” _Almost two_. He shook his head. She was fine. “We set up a fake dating profile,” he continued. “Kumu makes for one hell of a model, by the way.”

She smiled at that.

“We- _You_ traced his IP address. His girlfriend let us inside, told us she was alone. I talked to her whilst you snuck upstairs.” He sighed. “She lied to us. He was there.” He should’ve known. It was his job to know. “He took a bat, and he...he hurt you.”

One moment, Sawyer’s girlfriend was making him lemonade, engaging in some idle chit-chat. _You have a lovely home. Yes, I would love strawberries in my lemonade._ Then chaos erupted, and with that, a commotion upstairs. Somehow, he knew already then. 

It couldn’t have taken him more than ten seconds, but she was already on the floor when he reached her, surrounded by red. His training took control: _Stop the bleeding. Keep her still. Assess her level of consciousness._ The girlfriend had the sense to provide him with a clean towel, and he wished he could’ve pressed it against the wound without causing anymore pain. 

Time moved slowly when you were waiting for help. Yet, he knew it couldn’t have been too long before the paramedics had gotten there. She was still alive, after all. Next thing he remembered, he was trying to get her blood off his hands in a hospital bathroom, with Katsumoto gently trying to get some answers out of him.

He shook his head, as if that would get rid of the memory.

“That explains...” she closed her eyes and winced, letting out a breath,“...the headache.”

She was in pain, he realized. _Of course she was_. She was recovering from a skull fracture. He’d just been too preoccupied with her being awake for the thought to register. He needed to find a nurse.

“Sawyer?” she asked, before he had a chance to act.

“Arrested.”

She relaxed her shoulders. “Good.”

“Yeah.” 

The news felt better now that he could share them with her. A lot of things felt better now. He hadn’t noticed before how just by talking with her, even with things he’d rather forget, made him feel a little lighter. The nurses might not appreciate that, though. Him chatting with her before alerting them. He looked toward the door, hesitating. Another minute couldn’t hurt, surely?

“Higgins?”

She opened her eyes again, looking up at him.

“I…” he cleared his throat, “I just wanted you to know, that you have people here who care about you. A lot.”

Her expression softened. “Thank you, Magnum.”

He smiled. “Anyways, I should get you a nurse.”

Before he could make a move, she grabbed his wrist. “Magnum?” 

“Yeah?”

There was something about her eyes he couldn’t quite place. Then another second passed, and she rose her eyebrow, moving away from whatever she was thinking about. “The cars.”

Of course. “Don’t worry. I haven’t laid a finger on them.”

**Author's Note:**

> Somehow, even with a show as wholesome as Magnum, I end up writing fics mostly consisting of angst. This started out as a writing exercise (the first part), and I wanted to expand on it. Originally, I wanted to write Magnum looking after a concussed Higgins, with her getting annoyed at her "irritating alarmclock", but here we are instead.
> 
> Might not be completely medically accurate, but neither is the show lol. 
> 
> Thanks for reading. :)
> 
> \- Saf


End file.
